JK Rowling says Scottish rapist’s prison avoidance tells young men: ‘First time’s free’

Author alleged she was ‘a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor’ in 2020

JK Rowling has led the backlash against the decision to spare a child rapist from jail time due to the fact that he is under 25.

On Monday (3 April), Sean Hogg, now-21, was sentenced to 270 hours of community service for raping a 13-year-old girl in a park when he was 17.

After Hogg was found guilty by a jury at the High Court in Glasgow, Judge Lord Lake said that he had to take Hogg’s age into account.

“This offence, if committed by an adult over 25, [would] attract a sentence of four or five years,” the judge said during sentencing.

“I don’t consider that appropriate and don’t intend to send you to prison. You are a first offender with no previous history of prison: you are 21 and were 17 at the time. Prison does not lead me to believe this will contribute to your rehabilitation.”

Hogg was also put on the sex offenders’ register for three years.

Responding to the news on Twitter, Rowling, who alleged she was “a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor” in 2020, wrote: “Progressive Scotland 2023, where a man gets no jail time for raping a 13-year-old girl in a park. Young Scottish men are effectively being told ‘first time’s free.’”

The Times reports that new guidelines introduced in Scotland last year suggest that the brain has not fully developed until the age of 26 and there should be leniency against prison for younger suspects.

Thomas Ross KC, a leading criminal defence lawyer, told the BBC: “It is an extraordinary sentence. I have been working in the High Court for around 20 years and I have never seen anybody avoid prison for rape until yesterday.”

Rape Crisis Scotland said it was extremely concerned about the sentencing. “We are shocked that the perpetrator of the rape of a 13-year-old girl has not received a custodial sentence,” the group said in a statement.

“Given the gravity of this crime and the fact it was tried at the high court, this sentence appears to us to be worryingly lenient. Our thoughts are with the survivor of this crime.”

The author – who moved to Edinburgh in 1993 – spoke more about her experience of domestic abuse in the first episode of a new podcast, The Witch Trials of JK Rowling.

Rowling claimed that her marriage to ex-husband Jorge Arantes became “very violent and very controlling”.

She said she didn’t have a “key to my own front door because he’s got control of the front door” and alleged that whenever she did leave the house and returned, he would look through her handbag.

Rowling also described sneaking the manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone out of her house “a few pages” at a time as she feared Arantes would burn it.

Following Rowling’s 2020 allegations, Arantes admitted to The Sun that he “slapped” her but denied any “sustained abuse”. He added that he was “not sorry for slapping her”.

Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)

If you are a child and you need help because something has happened to you, you can call the NSPCC free of charge on 0800 1111. You can also call the NSPCC if you are an adult and you are worried about a child, on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adults on 0808 801 0331

The national domestic abuse helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247, or you can visit the Refuge website. There is a dedicated men’s advice line on 0808 8010 327. Those in the US can call the domestic violence hotline on 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org